Alternating electrodes between measurement and intervention modes to address hyperexcitability

Abstract

A mobility augmentation system configures electrodes of a wearable stimulation array to operate in measurement and intervention modes to detect hyperexcitability of one or more muscles of a user. In the measurement mode, electrodes of the array measure electromyography (EMG) signals from one or more muscles of a user. If the measured EMG signal indicates muscle hyperexcitability, the set of electrodes is configured to operate in the intervention mode and applies an intervention signal to the muscle(s). After the intervention signal is applied, the set of electrodes are reconfigured to return to the measurement mode and a second EMG signal is measured. In response to determining that the intervention signal did not reduce the hyperexcitability of the muscle(s) by at least a threshold amount, the electrodes are returned to the intervention mode and apply a second intervention signal based on the second EMG signal.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 initializing a wearable stimulation array comprising a plurality of electrodes;   configuring a set of the electrodes to operate in a measurement mode such that the set of electrodes, when configured in the measurement mode, can measure an electromyography (EMG) signal from one or more muscles;   in response to determining that the measured EMG signal is representative of muscle hyperexcitability, configuring the set of electrodes to operate in an intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies an intervention signal to the one or more muscles;   configuring the set of electrodes to operate in a measurement mode to measure a second EMG signal from the one or more muscles; and   in response to determining that the intervention signal did not reduce the hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles by at least a threshold amount, configuring the set of electrodes to operate in the intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies a second intervention signal to the one or more muscles, the second intervention signal based at least in part on the second EMG signal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , where the wearable stimulation array determines that the measured EMG signal is representative of muscle hyperexcitability based on a comparison between one or more parameters of the measured EMG signal and at least one hyperexcitability threshold. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the applied intervention signal is selected based on one or more of a type of hyperexcitability event detected, a severity of the hyperexcitability event, and the one or more muscles associated with the hyperexcitability event. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second intervention signal is different from the intervention signal. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second intervention signal is determined by adjusting at least one signal parameter of the intervention signal. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wearable stimulation array determines that the intervention signal did not reduce the hyperexcitability by at least a threshold amount based on a comparison between one or more parameters of the EMG signal and one or more parameters of the second EMG signal. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 configuring the set of electrodes to operate in a measurement mode to measure a third EMG signal from the one or more muscles;   responsive to determining that the second intervention signal reduced the hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles by at least a threshold amount, storing an association between the muscle hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles and the second intervention signal in a user profile; and   responsive to identifying a reoccurrence of the muscle hyperexcitability based on subsequent EMG signal data from the one or more muscles, configuring the set of electrodes to operate in the intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies the second intervention signal to the one or more muscles.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 configuring the set of electrodes to operate in a measurement mode to measure a third EMG signal from the one or more muscles;   responsive to determining that the second intervention signal reduced the hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles by at least a threshold amount, storing an association between the muscle hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles and the second intervention signal in a user profile; and   responsive to identifying a reoccurrence of the muscle hyperexcitability based on subsequent EMG signal data from the one or more muscles, configuring the set of electrodes to operate in the intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies a third intervention signal to the one or more muscles, the third intervention signal different from the intervention signal and the second intervention signal.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 accessing a machine-learning model configured to, for each of a plurality of muscle hyperexcitability events, identify a corresponding intervention signal intended to reduce the hyperexcitability of one or more muscles;   creating a training set including data indicating an efficacy of intervention signals applied by the set of electrodes in response to detected hyperexcitability events; and   training the machine-learning model using the training set.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising: responsive to identifying a reoccurrence of the muscle hyperexcitability based on subsequent EMG signal data from the one or more muscles, applying the machine-learning model to identify an intervention signal likely to reduce the hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles. 
     
     
         11 . A wearable stimulation array comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution and a hardware processor configured to execute the instructions, the instructions, when executed, cause the hardware processor to perform steps comprising:
 initializing a wearable stimulation array comprising a plurality of electrodes;   configuring a set of the electrodes to operate in a measurement mode such that the set of electrodes, when configured in the measurement mode, can measure an electromyography (EMG) signal from one or more muscles;   in response to determining that the measured EMG signal is representative of muscle hyperexcitability, configuring the set of electrodes to operate in an intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies an intervention signal to the one or more muscles;   configuring the set of electrodes to operate in a measurement mode to measure a second EMG signal from the one or more muscles; and   in response to determining that the intervention signal did not reduce the hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles by at least a threshold amount, configuring the set of electrodes to operate in the intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies a second intervention signal to the one or more muscles, the second intervention signal based at least in part on the second EMG signal.   
     
     
         12 . The wearable stimulation array of  claim 11 , where the wearable stimulation array determines that the measured EMG signal is representative of muscle hyperexcitability based on a comparison between one or more parameters of the measured EMG signal and at least one hyperexcitability threshold. 
     
     
         13 . The wearable stimulation array of  claim 11 , wherein the applied intervention signal is selected based on one or more of a type of hyperexcitability event detected, a severity of the hyperexcitability event, and the one or more muscles associated with the hyperexcitability event. 
     
     
         14 . The wearable stimulation array of  claim 11 , wherein the second intervention signal is different from the intervention signal. 
     
     
         15 . The wearable stimulation array of  claim 11 , wherein the second intervention signal is determined by adjusting at least one signal parameter of the intervention signal. 
     
     
         16 . The wearable stimulation array of  claim 11 , wherein the wearable stimulation array determines that the intervention signal did not reduce the hyperexcitability by at least a threshold amount based on a comparison between one or more parameters of the EMG signal and one or more parameters of the second EMG signal. 
     
     
         17 . The wearable stimulation array of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the hardware processor to:
 configure the set of electrodes to operate in a measurement mode to measure a third EMG signal from the one or more muscles;   responsive to determining that the second intervention signal reduced the hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles by at least a threshold amount, store an association between the muscle hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles and the second intervention signal in a user profile; and   responsive to identifying a reoccurrence of the muscle hyperexcitability based on subsequent EMG signal data from the one or more muscles, configure the set of electrodes to operate in the intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies the second intervention signal to the one or more muscles.   
     
     
         18 . The wearable stimulation array of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the hardware processor to:
 configure the set of electrodes to operate in a measurement mode to measure a third EMG signal from the one or more muscles;   responsive to determining that the second intervention signal reduced the hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles by at least a threshold amount, store an association between the muscle hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles and the second intervention signal in a user profile; and   responsive to identifying a reoccurrence of the muscle hyperexcitability based on subsequent EMG signal data from the one or more muscles, configure the set of electrodes to operate in the intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies a third intervention signal to the one or more muscles, the third intervention signal different from the intervention signal and the second intervention signal.   
     
     
         19 . The wearable stimulation array of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the hardware processor to:
 access a machine-learning model configured to, for each of a plurality of muscle hyperexcitability events, identify a corresponding intervention signal intended to reduce the hyperexcitability of one or more muscles;   create a training set including data indicating an efficacy of intervention signals applied by the set of electrodes in response to detected hyperexcitability events; and   train the machine-learning model using the training set.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:
 initializing a wearable stimulation array comprising a plurality of electrodes;   configuring a set of the electrodes to operate in a measurement mode such that the set of electrodes, when configured in the measurement mode, can measure an electromyography (EMG) signal from one or more muscles;   in response to determining that the measured EMG signal is representative of muscle hyperexcitability, configuring the set of electrodes to operate in an intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies an intervention signal to the one or more muscles;   configuring the set of electrodes to operate in a measurement mode to measure a second EMG signal from the one or more muscles; and   in response to determining that the intervention signal did not reduce the hyperexcitability of the one or more muscles by at least a threshold amount, configuring the set of electrodes to operate in the intervention mode such that the set of electrodes applies a second intervention signal to the one or more muscles, the second intervention signal based at least in part on the second EMG signal.